Suppose you drop a family photograph on the subway, is it still yours? Not if Brian Dunn finds it. He collects lost photos and makes them his own. I’m Jim Fleming. Next time on To the Best of Our Knowledge “Who owns what?” If there are copyrights are there copy “...Read more
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Episode Archives
Imagine living your whole life in excruciating pain, 24/7, and actually choosing to go without any pain medication. Next time on To the Best of Our Knowledge, one man’s permanent pain. And is a teenager slashing her arms with a razor a cry for help or an ancient ritual of sacred pain? Also,...Read more
Getting through winter requires mental and physical toughness, plus good central heating. But animals have amazing strategies for surviving conditions that make humans whimper. Today, winter survival strategies from our furred and feathered friends. What could we learn from a walrus who...Read more
Once upon a time people believed the world was populated with terrible monsters and fabulous mythical beasts. They thought if they just searched long enough and hard enough, they'd find them. In this hour of To the Best of Our Knowledge, the mythical beasts of folktale and legend and the modern...Read more
The Bible and the Quran are some of our most sacred and revered texts. They're also full of violent passages. Is religion the source of violence and intolerance around the world? We look at how sacred texts inspire both violence and liberation.Read more
The public sees a politician one way. A political cartoonist sees something else entirely. What makes a good political cartoon? We’ll get some answers from Steve Brodner, one of the most savage illustrators at work in the United States. It’s The New Toons in this hour of To the Best of Our...Read more
The cultural revolution changed everything for Hao Jian Tian. When he was ten years old, Tian studied piano. Reluctantly. So when his piano teacher was hauled off to jail, it was a day of celebration. No more piano lessons. No more practicing. But years later, music caught up with Hao...Read more
We're keepin it surreal this hour with a hallucinatory vortex chock full of innovative fiction. Like Salvador Dali said -- "Surrealism is destructive, but it destroys only what it considers to be shackles limiting our vision." Join us as we expand your vision and melt your mind....Read more
As Cuba and the U.S. restore diplomatic relations, what's in store for Americans who want to visit Cuba? And for Cubans wanting more prosperity? Steve Paulson recently traveled to Cuba and brought back new stories about our island neighbor. From diplomacy to culture, we tackle jazz,...Read more
Did you know that Teddy Roosevelt was one of nine U.S. presidents who had hooks for hands? Well, that's just one of countless facts included in John Hodgman's new almanac. But, as it turns out, all of these facts are fake. In this hour of the Peabody Award-winning To the Best of Our Knowledge,...Read more
Ever dream of finding buried treasure? In this hour of To the Best of Our Knowledge, real-life treasure hunters like the two small-time prospectors who risked their lives in the Canadian tundra, and found one of the world’s biggest diamond mines. Also, hunting for dinosaur bones in the Gobi...Read more
Leon Fleisher was once one of the world’s great pianists. Then a rare neurological disease left two fingers of his right hand clenched into his palm, and he could play only with his left hand for 37 years. At 76, Fleisher’s miraculously regained the use of his bad hand and he’s playing...Read more
The Back to the Land spirit of the 60s lives on today, in the proliferation of farmer's markets, and the increased interest in sustainability and growing our own food. From the fight to end food waste in America to the art of living small, we'll find out what the Back to the Land spirit...Read more
Whether black from a bottomless cup or as a Frappuccino mocha skim latte, it’s our culture’s elixir, coffee. In this hour of To the Best of Our Knowledge, java, joe, or a cup of mud. Most of us drink it everyday, but few of us know the effects it has on the world’s economy, or even...Read more
When Rae Armantrout recently won the Pulitzer Prize for poetry the first thing she said was curious. Read them out loud, she said.
In this hour of To the Best of Our Knowledge, poetry out loud. Rae Armantrout reads her poems, Natalie Merchant sings our favorite classic poems, and Bobby...Read more
Science and the Search for Meaning: Five Questions, Part Two: What Does Evolution Want?
If there’s one strand of evolutionary theory that sticks in the craw of nearly every religious believer, it’s the idea that human beings are just an evolutionary accident. But...Read more
Atheists are finally coming out of the closet, and in some cases denouncing religion. Others still crave a sense of the sacred even though they don’t believe in God. Do atheists have something to learn from religion? Why do so many people call themselves "spiritual but not religious"? And...Read more
Fifty Years ago James Watson and Francis Crick made history when they cracked the code for DNA. Watson was only 24 years old, and by no means the smartest scientist around. So why do some scientists make great discoveries? In this hour of To the Best of Our Knowledge, James Watson talks about...Read more
Nerds are an easy target for humor in movies and on TV... with their thick black glasses, hopelessly out-of-fashion clothes, and over-enunciated diction. But there's a dark side to nerds. In this hour of To the Best of Our Knowledge, we'll find out how the nerd stereotype is harming our children...Read more
Everyone in your Facebook feed is falling for fake news–sharing it even when there's no way it can be true. They keep falling for it. But not you, right? You’re smart, well-educated. You can tell the difference. Or can you?Read more
You might think that men’s anxiety over baldness is a relatively recent development in the history of civilization. But it’s not. The ancient Romans invented the comb-over and paint-on hair, which has since become spray-on hair. In this hour of To the Best of Our Knowledge we’...Read more
In this age of globalization, why would anyone want borders, an army, currency? Isn’t that kind of … old school? Read more
American children grow up playing Pokemon and Yu-Gi-Oh. As adults, they line up for the latest anime movies and hang out in karaoke bars. In other words -- Japanese culture is serious business. So serious that Japan's Prime Minister appointed a "Cool Japan" minister to oversee...Read more
Buried scrolls, clay tablets, priceless artifacts and expensive forgeries – this week, we bring you stories from the strange and amazing world of biblical archeology.Read more